2 Mamasapano suspects nabbed in Maguindanao

MANILA, Philippines - Two men implicated in the Mamasapano incident were arrested by police in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao on Friday.

Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief Director Roel Obusan said Lakiman Kalid Dawaling and Mustapha Tatak were arrested under a warrant on charges of direct assault and murder of the 44 Special Action Force (SAF) police commandos in Mamasapano, Maguindanao in 2015.

The two were the first accused to be arrested in the killing of the SAF policemen, officials said.

A total of 60 people, including the 44 police commandos, were killed in the firefight with Muslim rebels in Mamasapano on Jan. 25, 2015.

The slain policemen were part of a SAF operation to capture Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Abdul Hir, alias Marwan, and bomb maker Basit Usman in a remote village in Mamasapano.

Marwan was killed during the operation but Usman was able to escape. He died in an encounter with government forces four months later.

The police operation dubbed “Oplan Exodus” went awry after the SAF commandos figured in a firefight with Muslim rebels on their way out of the area.

A total of 90 people from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and some civilians belonging to private armed groups were implicated in the killing.

Charges were filed against the 90 individuals identified by the report of a fact-finding team of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Bureau of Investigation that recommended the filing of criminal charges against them.

Officials said the 90 suspects were identified based on eyewitness accounts of the incident. – With John Unson